Song fragments that really grab you | Page 20 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Those are some great examples, meanmistermustard, and I would add Ringo’s rumbling roll and perfectly-timed crashing cymbal to that second guitar riff in ‘Day Tripper ‘ that brings it full tilt after the preceding buildup that stops cold when the riff begins anew. A very likely duo of songs on my all-time faves top 10 are ‘Day Tripper ‘ and ‘Paperback Writer ‘, the latter of which has some more amazing hard Ringo drumming. Lennon/McCartney were untouchable as instant-hit songwriters in 65 & 66- it amazes me that it only took the group 6 or 7 takes of both songs combined to record them so perfectly.

Sorry, went off on a rant…

While each Beatle has provided a generous amount of ‘fragments’ highlighting their individual brilliance and unique genius on their chosen instruments, there are certain revelations that we have each experienced, in our own separate points in life (“So it was actually Paul playing the guitar parts in George‘s ‘Taxman ‘? Awesome!” “What, George was the bass player on ‘She Said She Said ‘? Wow, amazing!”), I’m wondering how many of us have read or heard some new tidbit regarding an actual player on certain songs that we had always assumed was performed by the group member most associated with that particular instrument that, deep inside, we would rather have not learned at all? There are two such incidents that I have felt that way about, and although they are probably accurate and/or indisputable facts, I have chosen not to pursue or verify their authenticity for the simple reason that I didn’t want them to be true.

George‘s lead guitar playing is just as essential on any given song as Ringo‘s drumming, or Paul‘s bass lines, or John‘s thrilling harmonica on such songs as ‘Honey Don’t ‘, ‘What You’re Doing ‘, ‘A Day In The Life ‘ and ‘I Should Have Known Better ‘, respectively. But, after at least four decades of believing two of my all-time favorite guitar solo ‘fragments’ from two of my favorite Beatles songs were performed by George, I have come across various sources claiming that Paul plays that ethereal, other-worldly and magnificent note progression in the middle of ‘Fixing A Hole ‘, and that John plays that spine-tingling and electrifying solo that gives ‘Hey Bulldog ‘ its rocking and (for me) raw ‘bite’ that never fails to bring an ecstatic shutter and smile of pure joy and delight to my being.

I want so badly to believe that George is the architectual mastermind of these two excellent guitar breaks, and as of now I choose to go on believing that. I’ll still love them just as much as always if that’s not the case, but it breaks my heart to think otherwise – in my own world, those major and minor chord combinations in a single solo are, or should have been, pure George, but he has plenty of other highlights in The Beatles’ catalogue to justify his genius and his proper place as a Beatle right along with the other three, and if ‘Here Comes The Sun ‘ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps ‘ were the only contributions he had ever given, that fact would not change.